Wharfedale Aura 2 review by ErinsAudioCorner

[CapMan]

From the posted graphs, other than availability, I do not see a reason to choose this over the Philharmonic BMR.

I would imagine supply will be much easier in Europe and certainly the UK. One practical advantage if not an acoustic one.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Half the price of Elysian. I wonder what the differences would be; better mid and woofer + cabinet I assume. Maybe there's also upcharge for "made in UK"?

The Elysian are made in China, as far as I know...

 

[Matt_Holland]

Yeah, somebody delete his final thought...lol

Why? The subjective impressions of a speakers alongside the full data is what makes the review more interesting. Erin balances this very well I think. As does Amir who offers his subjective thoughts in every review. Whatever someone’s subjective opinion, it doesn’t undermine the data. That’s the key, but it’s what people think that is just, if not sometimes more, interesting.

 

[thewas]

Comparison with Philharmonic BMR Monitor:

View attachment 339813

View attachment 339814

Interesting how similar the vertical direcitvities are, I prefer the horizontal one of the Aura as its more continuous up to 10 kHz and goes down a bit lower.

 

[abdo123]

Seems like Multitone distortion seems like the most reliable indicator of « can play loud » among all the parameters that Erin measures.

 

[geox]

Almost perfect speaker.

Vertical directvity being too narrow kills it.

I wish they had a dome tweeter version of this.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Why? The subjective impressions of a speakers alongside the full data is what makes the review more interesting. Erin balances this very well I think. As does Amir who offers his subjective thoughts in every review. Whatever someone’s subjective opinion, it doesn’t undermine the data. That’s the key, but it’s what people think that is just, if not sometimes more, interesting.

However, if you want to hear Peter is full “audiophile” appeasing cliche mode, Check this out

 

[mj30250]

Almost perfect speaker.

Vertical directvity being too narrow kills it.

I wish they had a dome tweeter version of this.

The top end is narrower than most domes, but not by a dramatic amount. As long as you're seated and not using the speakers in the extreme nearfield, it should be perfectly fine. If you're up and walking around, then yeah, the treble is going to drop off quickly. If that's a common use case, you probably want a coaxial anyway.

 

[tw 2022]

Why? The subjective impressions of a speakers alongside the full data is what makes the review more interesting. Erin balances this very well I think. As does Amir who offers his subjective thoughts in every review. Whatever someone’s subjective opinion, it doesn’t undermine the data. That’s the key, but it’s what people think that is just, if not sometimes more, interesting.

i was being hyperbolic, sorry....

 

[tw 2022]

Comparison with Philharmonic BMR Monitor:

View attachment 339813

View attachment 339814

other than the bmr avoiding high freq beaming( horizontal) it's pretty similar... Erin never mentions the bmr as a great choice , but the data says otherwise .... i tend to think the bmr is a hair brighter than Erin likes(with wider dispersion as well)...

 

[GXAlan]

Remember that narrow directivity is a goal of some speakers. Maybe not this specific model, but there can be some value.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/the-case-for-lcr-speakers-with-the-old-thx-uitra-specs….3231214/

 

[geox]

The top end is narrower than most domes, but not by a dramatic amount. As long as you're seated and not using the speakers in the extreme nearfield, it should be perfectly fine. If you're up and walking around, then yeah, the treble is going to drop off quickly. If that's a common use case, you probably want a coaxial anyway.

fair enough. too bad the only mainstream choice is Kef and could use some competition

 

[Penelinfi]

fair enough. too bad the only mainstream choice is Kef and could use some competition

There is always headphones

 

[Steve Dallas]

fair enough. too bad the only mainstream choice is Kef and could use some competition

Don't forget Elac:

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And Mofi:

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www.mofielectronics.com

 

[Bleib]

 

[sweetchaos]

Written review published:

Wharfedale AURA 2 Speaker Review

Wharfedale AURA 2 Speaker Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

updated main post

 

[Beave]

The KEF R3 Meta - which to me is a fairly large bookshelf/standmount speaker - looks pretty small in comparison to the other three in his video.

I didn't realize how big the MoFi SourcePoint 8 is!

 

[sweetchaos]

Erin talks about the differences with Joe:

 

[napilopez]

Almost perfect speaker.

Vertical directvity being too narrow kills it.

I wish they had a dome tweeter version of this.

Keep in mind too that narrow vertical directivity is arguably a good thing, especially for non-coaxials. In a typical speaker the vertical reflections are much more tonally disparate from the direct sound and therefore have the most negative effect on the sound. So what you lose in vertical sweetspot you do gain in other aspects of sound quality. I'd wager consistency within +/- 10-15 degrees is probably good enough for most uses where you're really paying attention to the sound.

 

[jhaider]

Keep in mind too that narrow vertical directivity is arguably a good thing, especially for non-coaxials. In a typical speaker the vertical reflections are much more tonally disparate from the direct sound and therefore have the most negative effect on the sound. So what you lose in vertical sweetspot you do gain in other aspects of sound quality. I'd wager consistency within +/- 10-15 degrees is probably good enough for most uses where you're really paying attention to the sound.

I’m not sure I agree there. I go back to the OG THX speakers, when narrow verticals was a big part of the spec so most of them had a line of domes. All of them that I heard (ok, KEF and Snell) sounded off in the treble IMO.

Also, I wonder if the NFS and fixed distance measurements correctly capture vertical directivity of long tweeters. The points captured don’t vary much in distance from the speaker. I’ve always subjectively found long tweeters to fare worse in the “sit-stand test” than calculated verticals would suggest. At a 10’ listening distance the theoretical vertical listening window of a point source with 20 degree directivity is about 3.5’ if my math is right. Yet I’ve subjectively found - never measured, admittedly - treble disappears with long tweeters when you move up much less than that. But narrow horns aren’t as bad in that respect (though I’ve never used one that narrow).